The Importance of the Right Stories – for Kids, Adults, and Nations

Last updated on: March 7, 2014 at 11:01 am by Nancy French

The Importance of the Right Stories – for Kids, Adults, and Nations 2014-03-07T11:01:44-05:00 Nancy French

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

I remember the night.

A group of friends stood around my husband David’s laptop, looking at photos he had taken during the first half of his deployment with the Third Armored Cav. Regiment in Diyala province, Iraq. He was on his twelve-day leave, and we’d gone to Boston to be with his dear friends from Harvard Law School. They came, with their families, for dinner. Soon, everyone gathered around him to hear the stories of war – the things he had seen, the soldiers he’d befriended, the al**–**Qaeda members who had vomited on him.

Yes, he had some stories. Since his regiment suffered more casualties during “the surge” than any other in that time frame, his voice occasionally broke with emotion.

We had only twelve days with him before he went back to war, but we thought it was important to be with friends.

Our kids hovered hesitantly near the cozy group listening with rapt attention. My son gripped a Batman figurine in his hand as he stared at his dad whom he hadn’t seen for months. David was talking about things – terrorists, bombs, IEDs, tanks – that he hadn’t talked about before he’d deployed. We weren’t a “military family,” so they didn’t grow up with talk of war. David was a lawyer who decided to serve his nation after 9/11. Suddenly, we moved from our penthouse in Center City Philadelphia back home to the south to be near family during the deployment.

This “new dad” was unfamiliar to them.

I wondered for a moment if this was good – we were at a party, for goodness sakes. Did our well-heeled friends really want to hear about the war? My friend Jean pulled me aside and said, “This is amazing. You never get to hear from people who’ve seen the front lines.”

Her reassurance comforted me, but I wondered if I should let the kids hear what he was saying. They were eight and ten years old. When is this the age-appropriate time to introduce them to genocide? Beheadings? Just weeks prior to that moment, I’d covered their eyes during the scary scene in one of the Chronicles of Narnia movies.

The deployment made things real with our family. From those early ages, the kids began to contemplate unmitigated evil, the responsibilities of freedom, the high cost of war – on families, on soldiers, on nations.

I thought of this today as I drove them to school. They’re teenagers now, no longer hovering hesitantly on the sidelines of adult conversations. Their views – political, moral, philosophical, theological – have been shaped over the years by conversations, stories, and books. We were listening to an NPR interview about Mark Harris’s new book on World War II filmmakers, and discussing the government’s role in telling the story, balancing “propaganda” with actual patriotism.

As I listened to their thoughts, I was suddenly thankful David made the decision to serve his country. I’m also thankful that he chose to tell the children the hard, horrifying stories of war.

I am different than I would’ve been had he not chosen to serve, and the kids are different than they would’ve been had he not chosen to serve.

When my husband left in 2007, that man would never really return. But, I’m thankful that his voice still breaks when he tells the stories.

Read more on the Patheos Faith and Family Channel and follow Nancy on Twitter and Facebook!

Previous Post

February 26, 2014

Is Bad Theology Partly Responsible for Hobby Lobby's Plight?

Next Post

March 12, 2014 Atheists Demand Grieving Mom Take Down Cross Remembering Her Son

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Christmas faith family ministry music Television Uncategorized

Select a Month June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 March 2010

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz